The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is an organelle, which plays an essential role in multiple cellular processes that are central for cell survival and normal cellular functions. Those vital cellular processes include intracellular calcium homeostasis, protein secretion, and lipid biosynthesis. Anelli et al., EMBO J. 2008, 27, 315-327; Pizzo et al., Trends Cell Biol. 2007, 17, 511-517; Ma et al., J. Chem. Neuroanat. 2004, 28, 51-65.
Perturbation of ER homeostasis leads to accumulation of unfolded protein in the ER, triggering an evolutionarily conserved response known as the unfolded protein response (UPR). Ron et al., Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 2007, 8, 519-529; Malhotra et al., Semin. Cell Dev. Biol. 2007, 18, 716-731. Disturbances that lead to ER stress include, for example, disturbances in cellular redox regulation, glucose deprivation, aberration of calcium regulation in the ER, viral infection, high-fat diet, protein-inclusion-body diseases (e.g., chronic neurodegenerative diseases), and inclusion-body myositis. Kim et al., Nat. Rev. Drug Dis. 2008, 7, 1013-1030; Ma et al., J. Chem. Neuroanat. 2004, 28, 51-65; Ozcan et al., Science 2004, 306, 457-461; Frand et al., Trends Cell Biol. 2000, 10, 203-310. ER stress has been linked to a wide range of diseases, including neurodegeneration (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, polyglutamine disease, and prion disease), stroke, bipolar disorder, heart disease, atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes (types 1 and 2), muscle degeneration, inflammatory diseases, and autoimmune disease. Kim et al., Nat. Rev. Drug Dis. 2008, 7, 1013-1030; Oyadomari et al., Cell Death Differ. 2004, 11, 381-389.
Sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum C2+ ATPase (SERCA), is a major regulator of ER stress and glucose homeostasis in obesity. Park et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2010, 107, 19320-19325. Obesity disrupts intracellular C2+ homeostasis and induces ER stress. Fu et al., Nature 2011, 473, 528-531. Chronic activation of ER stress has been implicated in the development of insulin resistance and diabetes in obesity. Hotamisligil, Cell 2010, 140, 900-917; Kim et al. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 2008, 7, 1013-1030. ER Ca2+-homeostasis is found to be altered in small and non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Bergner et al., J. Exp. Clin. Cancer Res. 2009, 28, 25. Restoration of C2+ homeostasis via SERCA activation has been shown to alleviate dyskinesia in a model of Parkinson's disease. Dahl, Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2017, 25, 53-57. SERCA activation has also been shown to improve memory and coordination in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Krajnak & Dahl, Bioorg. Med. Chem Lett. 2018, 28, 1591-1594. Therefore, there is a need for therapeutic agents capable of reducing ER stress or restoring ER homeostasis for treating ER stress-caused diseases.